Knitting Peculiarities and Predilections
Strong feelings ahead of some niche things
One of the joys of knitting is that is a hobby you can engage with on several levels. There are people who, having learned to knit and purl, discover that they hate purling and therefore refuse to knit anything that requires a purl stitch. There are those who go deep down the rabbit hole of historical patterns and knitting history. There are those who only knit baby garments. Or shawls. Or socks.
No matter what kind of knitter you are or grow into as you become more experienced, you will inevitably find out that there are some things you love and some you hate. Here’s a look at my list:
Interchangeable needles over straight needles. This preference is so profound that I have a beautiful set of Lykke straight needles that I have used precisely once. Why did I buy them? I do not know. Knitting it a hobby that can make those of us who like stuff even more acquisitive than usual.
Steel Chiagoo needles over bamboo over plastic. I started out, as so many of us did on plastic and metal straight needles. Then I discovered interchangible bamboo needles. (Hello KnitPro.) Then, after many years of debating with myself, I made the switch to steel Chiagoo needles and I have never looked back. I know that they do not work for everyone, but they work well for me even with more slippery yarns.
Metal stitch markers over plastic or fabric. I prefer metal because the weight of the stitch marker means that it is more likely to hang in place and not get caught up in my knitting. Bonus points if the stitch marker has a locking hinge so it can be easily removed mid-row while knitting in the round.
Wool over superwash. I much prefer the experience of knitting with wool (that superwash squeak…) and the fact that it is more predictable when it block. Does this prevent me from buying superwash wool? Absolutely not as evidenced by the frankly disturbing quantity of superwash sock wool I’ve purchased recently…
Literally any fiber over cotton. I hate knitting with cotton because of what it does to my hands. Absolute misery.
Flicking over throwing or continental-style knitting. This is probably the most controversial debate in the knitting community other than whether that hand-cranked hat machine is hand knitting or not. I grew up an English knitter, and I still knit English. However, about two years ago I transitioned to flicking rather than throwing, and I find it a much more comfortable experience on both my right and left hands. It also has an added benefit of being faster for me. I can also knit continental, but I found that, not only did my speed not increase, my hand pain was greater. This is a not-so-gentle reminder to those ardent continental-knitting lovers that this style doesn’t work for all of us, isn’t always more comfortable for all of us, and certainly isn’t the fastest way to knit for all of us.
Cables over colorwork. Give me complicated cables over colorwork any day. It isn’t that I don’t like doing colorwork, it’s more that it has to be very specific to suit my wardrobe because I don’t wear a huge amount of pattern on a daily basis. Instead, I love texture and all of the variations that can come with it.
Neutrals over jewel-tones over brights. When I first started knitting, I tended to gravitate towards bright colors that would then languish in my wardrobe because I don’t war that much color. I will turn to jewel-tones when the weather gets cooler and cozier (which is why as I write this I am making a burgundy Cumulus Blouse), however I’m much more inclined to stick with white, cream, camel, navy, grey, black, and red.1 When I do feel the need to inject a little color into my knitting, I am starting to look to accessories to add that splash rather than commit to an entire garment of something that I won’t feel as comfortable in.
Contiguous knitting over seamed knitting. When I started knitting garments in the early 2000s, there wasn’t much out there if you wanted a clean, modern-looking jumper. Ravelry either didn’t exist or was in its infancy. Knitty.com could have some gems but also was…eclectic. The only thing I could find that had garments I like the look of was Rowan.
Rowan still has a warm place in my heart for all of those early garments, but now I wonder at the fact that I made it through those patterns unscathed. Knitted flat and seamed together, the patterns were designed to fit on two pages with basic information, a schematic, and instructions all squeezed together. To say that they didn’t hold your hand is an understatement.2
Later I discovered Ravelry and the joys of knitting in the round. Then came contiguous knitting where, when you would finish knitting a jumper, it would be a jumper—not pieces of a jumper. Bliss!
With the exception of making Dad and The Gentleman a cricket jumper each, I have never knit flat again and will avoid it unless I absolutely cannot.
What are your knitting preferences, predilections, or general strong feelings?
Yes, I treat bright tomato red and every other shade of red as a neutral.
I recently told my sister that I heard someone refer to Kim Hargreaves, a Rowan designer who was a favorite of both of ours, as a high-degree of difficulty. I’m pretty sure both of our first patterns were Kim Hargreaves patterns and we just barely lived to tell the tale.
I learned how to knit in first year university - our residence floor don knit beautifully and offered to teach anyone who was interested how to knit what I realize now was a kind of a complicated sweater - but I was hooked and kept going all through my 20’s - mainly fair isle and other colour patterns until family life took over. Dipping in and out of my needles over the years has taught me that 1) I really don’t like changing colours because I truly hate weaving in the ends 2) pure wool makes my hands itch so I stick to soft acrylics 3) I am clearly an amateur because I will have to look up many of the terms you use above to identify what kind of knitting style I use 🤣 and 4) I love knitting blankets and cool scarves because the nature of the patterns means I can knit while watching basketball through the winter months without losing my place. Hmmmm... maybe it’s time to cast on another blanket for baseball season.